Post by Lydia Purple on Dec 16, 2013 20:32:06 GMT -8
Eminem topped the British chart for one week with "Lose Yourself" which he wrote with Jeff Bass and Luis Resto for the soundtrack of his film "8 Mile". In many retrospective reviews and lists, critics have cited the song among Eminem's finest, as well as one of the best hip-hop songs of all time. The video is a mixture of several scenarios, largely including several scenes from 8 Mile: however, it also contains scenes addressing problems the real life Eminem has addressed, as well as "B-Rabbit"'s difficulties, including the ostracism by rap communities towards him due to his colour, and his difficult personal life.
The song earned Eminem 5 nominations at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004 and the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2002, making it the first ever rap song to have received this accolade. In 2004, it was one of only 3 hip-hop songs from the 21st century to have been included on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was also the highest ranking, at no.166. Rolling Stone also ranked it as one of the top 50 hip hop songs of all time. As of June 29, 2012, it has had over 5,000,000 downloads in the US alone, and has been certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 5,000,000 copies in the US. It was ranked [HASH]93 on AFI's 100 years...100 songs. In October 2011, NME placed it at no.57 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". VH1 placed it at no.4 for the best songs of the 2000s. The song has been routinely used to close out shows ever since it has been released, as it is considered to be a strong crowd favorite due to it being his most recognizable song.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "Lose Yourself" became the "Longest Running Single at Number One for a Rap Song" at 23 weeks. Also, the song went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Song (the first time a rap song ever won this award), beating other nominees like U2's "The Hands That Built America." Eminem, who was not present at the award ceremony believing he would not win, said in a Shade 45 Behind The Boards interview with Cipha Sounds that he was actually sleeping, with cartoons on for his daughter, at the time the award was announced. This was the first time in 14 years the winner of the Best Original Song category did not perform at the ceremony. Luis Resto, one of the song's co-writers, had attended the ceremony and accepted the award instead. "He's creative, he has symphonies in his head," Resto said at the lectern about Eminem. The American Film Institute later ranked it no.93 on their list of the 100 Greatest Songs from American Films.
At the Grammy Awards of 2004, "Lose Yourself" became Eminem's second career nomination for Record of the Year (following "Without Me"), and the first rap song ever to be nominated for Song of the Year. It won Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song, which was a new category at the time.
At no.166, "Lose Yourself" is the highest ranked of the three songs from the 21st century featured in the 2004 List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (joining "Stan" at [HASH]290 and Outkast's "Hey Ya!" at [HASH]180). The magazine later ranked the song the 12th best of the '00s decade. The song was the 51st best-selling single of the '00s decade in the UK.
In October 2011, NME placed it at no.57 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". VH1 placed it at no.4 for the best songs of the 2000s.
At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards it received the award for Best Video from a Film in the final year this award was given out. It also received nominations for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Rap Video, and Viewer's Choice. He won a MuchMusic Video Award in 2003 for Favorite International Artist with the video for "Lose Yourself".
(Source: Wikipedia & The History of Rock Day by Day)